Automatic Opening-and-Closing Lid for Garbage Bin

ABSTRACT

An automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin, the automatic opening-and-closing lid comprises a base member including an opening for user throwing trash into the bin therefrom and first and second annular flanges; a lid installed to the opening of the base member and able to pivot with respect to the base member; a control means installed to the base member and including a power source for power supply, a control panel, a driving member electrically connected to the control panel, a driven member and first and second sensor wires electrically connected to the power source, with the first and second sensor wires respectively disposed in the first and second annular flanges; and a sensing region formed proximal to the first and second sensor wires.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin and, more particularly, to a static-control automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, an automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin, the automatic lid includes a base member, a lid member, a lid and a control means. The control means includes first and second sensor wires and the two sensor wires define a sensing region. And there's a drop height between the first and second sensor wires so that the sensing region can provide a great effect.

Other objectives, advantages, and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial, exploded perspective view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is another partial, exploded perspective view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 shows a combination of a control means and a base member of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is another cross-sectional view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5, they show an automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The automatic opening-and-closing lid includes a base member 10, a lid member 20, a lid member 30 and a control means 40. The lid member 20 is mounted on the base member 10 and prevents the base member 10 from being exposed and dust. The lid member 30 is pivotally installed onto the base member 10 and can be automatically open/close by controlling the control means 40.

The base member 10 has a first side 101 and a second side 102, and an opening 11 is defined between the first 101 and second 102 sides and provides users to throw garbage into the garbage bin therefrom. Two receptacles 12 are formed at the first side 101 and respectively communicate with the opening 11. An abutted portion 121 is provided in each receptacle 12 and two ends of the abutted portion 121 are respectively abutted with two inner sides of the related receptacle 12. A receiving portion 122 is formed on the center of each abutted portion 121. A space 13 and first 14 and second 15 annular flanges are defined at the periphery of the opening 11 and the space 13 is provided between the two receptacles 12. The first 14 and second 15 annular flanges causes the periphery of the opening 11 to be stepped and a horizontal position of the first annular flange 14 is higher than that of the second annular flange 15. A horizontal position of the bottom of the space 13 is substantially equal to that of the second annular flange 15. Numbers of coupled columns 16 are disposed on the periphery of the opening 11 and at the corners of the base member 10 for coupling the base member 10 to the lid member 20. A limiting portion 17 is provided at the first annular flange 14 and proximal to one of the receptacles 12.

The lid member 20 includes an opening 21 formed on the center thereof and two receptacles 22 defined at a side thereof and in communication with the opening 21. The opening 21 corresponds to the opening 11 and the receptacles 22 respectively correspond to the receptacles 12. A touch portion 23 and a blocked portion 24 are respectively provided at two sides of the periphery of the lid member 20, and the touch portion 23 is proximal to the receptacles 22.

The lid 30 is installed between the openings 11 and 21 of the base member 10 and the lid member 20 and able to pivot with respect to the base member 10 and the lid member 20. A first pivotal ear 31 and a second pivotal ear 32 are respectively formed on two ends of a side of the lid 30. Two elastic elements 33 are pivotally connected to the first 31 and second 32 pivotal ears respectively. A pivoting portion 321 projects from a side of the second pivotal ear 32 opposite to the first pivotal ear 31 and forms with first 322 and second 323 blocked sections which are selectively abutted against the limiting portion 17. The first 31 and second 32 pivotal ears are installed to the receptacles 12 and 22 of the base 10 and lid 20 members and abutted with the abutted portions 121. Each elastic element 33 has a leg abutted with the inner wall of the related one of the first 31 and second 32 pivotal ears and the other leg inserted into the receiving portion 122 of the related one abutted portion 121. A lug 34 extends outwardly form the middle of the other side of the lid 30 opposite to the first 31 and second 32 pivotal ears and selectively disposed in the blocked portion 24 of the lid member 20.

The control means 40 is set in the base member 10 and includes a power source 41 having a positive port 411 and a negative port 412, a control panel 42 disposed above the power source 41, a switch member 43, a driving member 44, a driven member 45 and first 46 and second 47 sensor wires. The power source 41, the switch member 43 and the driving member 44 are stored in the space 13. The switch member 43 corresponds to the touch portion 23 of the lid member 20 so that users can operate the touch portion 23 to drive the switch member 43 for choosing between lifting the lid 30 manually or automatically by static-control. The control panel 42 is adapted to electrically connect the power source 41 to the switch member 43, and a static signal is transmitted to the control panel 42 via the first 46 and second 47 sensor wires to drive the driving member 44 to rotate. And then, the driven member 45 is driven by the driving member 44 and includes an axle 451 inserted through a driven hole 311 of the first pivotal ear 31 so that the axle 451 can drive the driven hole 311 to rotate for lifting the lid 30.

Referring to FIG. 6, the first sensor wire 46 has a first section 461 having a first end and a second end and a second section 462 having a first end and a second end. The first end of the first sensor wire 461 is connected to the control panel 42, the first end of the second sensor wire 462 is connected to the positive port 411 of the power source 41 and the second ends of the first 461 and second 462 sensor wires are coupled to each other. The first sensor wire 46 is annularly disposed around the base member 10 and provided in the first annular flange 14. An end of the second sensor wire 47 is electrically connected to the negative port 412. The second sensor wire 47 is annularly disposed around the base member 10 and provided in the second annular flange 15. The positive port 411 is electrically connected to the switch member 43, and the switch member 43 is electrically connected to the control panel 42.

Referring to FIG. 7, numbers of projections 141 and 151 are respectively provided at the first 14 and second 15 annular flanges and prevent the first 46 and second 47 sensor wires from detaching from the first 14 and second 15 annular flanges automatically. The first 461 and second 462 sections of the first sensor wire 46 are coupled to each other.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the automatic opening-and-closing lid of the present invention is closed in a normal condition. Each elastic element 33 has a leg abutted with the inner wall of the related one of the first 31 and second 32 pivotal ears and the other leg inserted into the receiving portion 122 of the related one abutted portion 121. In this embodiment, the elastic element 33 is in form of torque spring. The first blocked section 322 of the second pivotal ear 32 is abutted with the limiting portion 17 of the base member 10. The lug 34 is disposed in the blocked portion 24 of the lid member 20. The driving member 44 drives the driven member 45 to rotate (shown in FIG. 4). The driven member 45 further drives the lid 30 to close the openings 11 and 21 of the base 10 and lid 20 members. In the meanwhile, the weight of the lid member 20 and the rotational force of the driving member 44 are larger than the elastic force of the elastic elements 33 so that the lid 30 is able to overcome the elastic elements 33 and maintains being in the close position.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the first 46 and second 47 sensor wires are disposed in the first 14 and second 15 annular flanges respectively. Because of a drop height which is defined between the first 14 and second 15 annular flanges, there's a drop height defined between the first 46 and second 47 sensor wires. A sensing region is provided around the first 46 and second 47 sensor wires. A horizontal position of the first sensor wire 46 is higher than that of the second sensor wire 47 so that the sensing region could be larger than that of a conventional static-control lid for achieving a greater sensor effect. Thus, users do not need to close the garbage bin excessively. Further, the first 46 and second 47 sensor wires are annularly disposed around the base member 10 so that even users want to throw garbage into the garbage bin form any directions, the lid 30 can be driven to life via static-control.

Further referring to FIG. 4, while users close to the garbage bin for throwing garbage, the balance-magnetic sensing region is interfered by static of users and then, the control panel 42 receives a signal from the sensing region. The control panel 42 controls the driving member 44 to drive the driven member 45 to rotate. Thus, the driven member 45 drives the lid 30 to pivot so that the lid 30 is being lifted. While the driven member 45 is rotated, the elastic elements 30 are released to lift the lid 30 with respect to the base 10 and lid 20 members. The one elastic element 33 which is connected to the axle 451 assists the axle 451 to rotate. So that the driving member 44 does not need to output excess torque for reducing rotation loading of the driving member 44 and extending the service life of the driving member 44. And it can prevent that the driven member 45 from getting broken teeth under excessive torque. While lifting the lid 30, the second pivotal ear 32 is pivoted with respect to the base member 10, the second blocked section 323 is abutted with the limiting portion 17 and restricts that the lid 30 to continue to rotate so that the lid 30 can be positioned to a predetermined position.

The control panel 42 is adapted to set time for maintaining the lid 30 being open so that users can throw garbage into the bin from the openings 11 and 21 during this time. Till time is up, the driving member 44 would drive the driven member 45 to rotate for controlling the lid 30 to close the openings 11 and 21.

While several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. 

1. An automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin, the automatic opening-and-closing lid comprising: a base member including an opening for user throwing trash into the bin therefrom and first and second annular flanges; a lid installed to the opening of the base member and able to pivot with respect to the base member; a control means installed to the base member and including a power source for power supply, a control panel, a driving member electrically connected to the control panel, a driven member and first and second sensor wires electrically connected to the power source, with the first and second sensor wires respectively disposed in the first and second annular flanges; and a sensing region formed proximal to the first and second sensor wires; wherein while the sensing region receives a static signal, the first and second sensor wires transmit the signal to the control panel and the control panel controls the driving member to drive the driven member to rotate for driving the lid to lifting or closing the opening of the base member.
 2. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1, with a drop height defined between the first and second annular flanges, and with a horizontal position of the first annular flange higher than that of the second annular flange.
 3. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1, with the first and second annular flanges formed on a periphery of the opening of the base member.
 4. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power source includes a positive port and a negative port and the first sensor wire has a first section having a first end and a second end and a second section having a first end and a second end, with the first end of the first sensor wire connected to the control panel, with the first end of the second sensor wire connected to the positive port of the power source, and with the second ends of the first and second sensor wires coupled to each other.
 5. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power source includes a positive port and a negative port, with an end of the second sensor wire electrically connected to the negative port.
 6. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an elastic element provided between the lid and the base member and assisting the driven member to rotate.
 7. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 6 further comprising a first pivotal ear having a driven hole and a second pivotal ear respectively formed on two ends of a side of the lid; wherein the driven member includes an axle inserted through the driven hole of the first pivotal ear so that the axle can drive the driven hole to rotate for lifting the lid.
 8. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 7 further comprising two receptacles formed at a side of the base member and respectively communicate with the opening, with each receptacle forming with an abutted portion, with two ends of the abutted portion respectively abutted with two inner sides of the related receptacle; wherein each elastic element has a leg abutted with the inner wall of the related one of the first and second pivotal ears and the other leg inserted into the receiving portion of the related one abutted portion.
 9. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 8 further comprising a limiting portion provided at the first annular flange and proximal to one of the receptacles and a pivoting portion projecting from a side of the second pivotal ear opposite to the first pivotal ear and forming with first and second blocked sections which are selectively abutted against the limiting portion.
 10. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a lid member installed to the base member and including an opening formed on the center thereof and two receptacles defined at a side thereof and in communication with the opening; wherein the opening of the lid member corresponds to the opening of the base member and the receptacles of the lid member respectively correspond to the receptacles of the base member.
 11. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 10 further comprising a blocked portion provided at the periphery of the lid member and a lug extending outwardly form the middle of the other side of the lid opposite to the first and second pivotal ears and selectively disposed in the blocked portion of the lid member.
 12. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control means includes a switch member for choosing between lifting the lid manually or automatically by static-control.
 13. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1 further comprising numbers of projections respectively provided at the first and second annular flanges and prevent the first and second sensor wires from detaching from the first and second annular flanges automatically.
 14. The automatic opening-and-closing lid as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a space defined at the periphery of the opening and provided between the two receptacles, with the power source and the driving member received in the space. 